Lost Forever
by DelenaDJ
Summary: PART OF MY CANON COLLECTION. When your heart is broken, who do you turn to? Your ex-boyfriend's brother? Maybe he'll heal the ache in your shattered heart and maybe an English vampire will knock some sense into your Ripper ex.
1. He's Hurting Me

I had a feeling my little road trip with Katherine was going to come back and bite me in the ass. Elena was in trouble and I was running back to Mystic Falls as fast as I could. I searched the entire high school and found nothing until I reached the cafeteria. I cringed when I smelled the sweet scent of Elena's blood. I wasn't going to like this. I opened the door and saw a large pool of blood, Elena's blood. Next to the blood were some shredded clothes and a clear fluid, Stefan's scent intermingled in the blood and clothing. My blood began to boil.

"Something bothering you, brother?" I heard Stefan say behind me. I turned around, black veins circling around my eyes. "Ooh. I believe I've struck a nerve."

"I see Ripper Stefan is back." Stefan shrugged. "It wasn't enough for you to take Elena's blood, but you had to violate her too?"

"Well, she is my girlfriend."

"Oh, I doubt that for much longer. I can smell her emotions in the blood. It was non-consensual." I then grabbed the stick of a broom on the floor and hit my brother in the back. "You raped her."

"I'm sure you've done worse."

"I'm a lot of things, but a rapist I'm not."

"What can I say? I couldn't help myself." My fury taking over, I kicked my brother so hard in the gut he hit the wall. I then sped over and staked him in the stomach so hard he was pinned to the wall.

"I'll be back to finish you. Don't move." I hurried out of the high school. I had to find Elena. I had to get her to a safe place. I focused on her scent and smelled a trail leading to the hospital. When I walked through the parking lot, I was met by none other than Klaus.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party."

"Where is she?"

"Elena? Ah, she's making a donation to a greater cause." I went toward the hospital, but Klaus stopped me. "I'm afraid I can't let you interfere, mate."

"You'll have to kill me."

"Oh, I would love to kill you, but I made a pledge to your brother, and unlike him, I keep my word. Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore."

He pushed me against a car and was about to kill me when I said, "Don't you want to know about your friend, Mikael?"

"What do you know about Mikael?"

"Just that he knows you're here."

"You're bluffing."

"Katherine and I found him. Consider it our leverage." Klaus threw me to the ground and when I got up, he was gone. I ran into the hospital and down a hallway, looking for Elena. I finally found her. She was asleep, dressed in a hospital gown, bruises on her arms. I looked at her beautiful features and pulled out the IV pipe that was pumping blood out of her from her arm. She woke up groggily.

"Damon…I'm going to die."

"Hey. Not if I have anything to say about it." I took her out of the bed and carried her out of the room, taking her back to my place. When she was more alert, she changed into some clothes she kept in one of the guest bedrooms. As she made herself comfortable in the parlor, I grabbed a bottle of scotch from my private collection in my room and brought it downstairs. She was wrapped up in a blanket, sitting in the middle of the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. I poured her a glass.

"Hey. Have some bourbon. It'll help you forget." She drank it, but the taste burned. "It's strong. I can help you forget, too. At least the memories you don't want to keep."

"No. No compulsion. I need to remember. All of it." Damon pulled Elena's necklace out of his pocket.

"I stole it back for you."

"He's really gone this time. I watched it happen. After everything that we went through to get... to help him. Why did he do this to me?"

I could see she was on the verge of tears as I stroked her cheek.

"I'm so sorry."

"Where were you, Damon?"

"I shouldn't have left. I promise you...I will never leave you again and I won't let him hurt you again." Elena smiled. "I should call your brother."

"Damon."

"I'm sure he's worried about you. He should take you home."

"Damon. I don't want my brother. I want you. I'll call him in the morning. I don't want anyone to know. I just want to be with you." Needless to say, I was a bit surprised. She didn't want her friends, she didn't want her brother, she didn't want my brother. She wanted me. "I tried to stop him."

"Shh. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Everything hurts."

"I hate to even bring it up, but do you want some blood?"

"I can't take the pain anymore. Please," she cried.

"I'd do anything for you." I bit into my wrist and offered her my blood. "Just a sip should be enough." Having her draw blood from me was like heaven, but I sure as hell wasn't going to tell her that. I had my pride to think about. Within seconds, her lips left my wrist and the bruises on her arms faded.

"I love you," she breathed. At first, I thought I'd heard wrong, but now it was all I could hear.

"Elena, don't do this to me. You're upset."

"I should have said it sooner. It feels good to say it now. I think maybe some part of me has always been in love with you." I leaned my forehead against hers.

"I only have so much control so if I'm way out of line here just slap me, but I really want to kiss you right now." And then she kissed me. I cupped her cheeks softly, not wanting to push her too hard.

"It wasn't a pity kiss. I wish I'd met you first." I almost chuckled. God, if she only knew. She'd either kiss me or slap me.

"Come here." We laid across the couch and I held her in my arms as the fire roared. My hand stroked the silky strands of her hair and after a moan of contentment, I felt her fall asleep. Carefully, I slipped my phone out of my pocket. Stefan had gone too far and there was only one vampire I knew that could help me.

"You've reached Emma Bancroft. Apparently, I have more important things to do than talk to you so leave a message at the beep," said an English voice.

"Emma, I know you screen my calls so pick up your phone," I whispered. "It's Damon. We need to talk. I can wait on the line." The phone then picked up.

"You do realize it's 2 in the morning in London. What do you want?" Emma answered.

"Hello, Emma."

"Damon, I'd say it's a surprise, but…I'll ask again. What do you want?"

"As loathe as I am to admit it, I need some help."

"And why would I help you?"

"You'll like this. It's about Stefan. He's gone off the rails big time."

"Hmm. And you need me to fix it."

"Well, you are a fixer."

"How bad?"

"Worse than Monterey."

"You'll owe me."

"Fine."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." The line then disconnected. I smirked. Stefan was going to learn the meaning of pain when Emma arrived and I was going to savor it. Nobody hurts my girl and gets away with it. The next morning, I woke to Elena still in my arms and it was a sight I thought I'd never witness, the girl of my dreams in my arms.

"Morning," she whispered before kissing my cheek.

"Morning. Sleep good?"

"Best I've slept in months."

"I'm glad."

"Well, isn't this cozy?" Stefan asked from across the room. In a flash, Damon was up.

"What are you doing here, brother?"

"Last I checked, I live here. Klaus is gone, but he's asked me to keep watch on you until he returns," he said to Elena. "From now on, you're under my protection. By all means. Carry on." Elena and I both looked at each other and I got her out of the house as fast as possible. Stefan wasn't going to be anywhere near my girl until Emma took care of him.

"How about I pick you up for lunch?" I asked when I drove her to school.

"I'd like that."

"Then I will see you later."

"What are you going to do today?"

"Drinking followed by thinking about you followed by creating diabolical plans for Klaus' destruction followed by more drinking."

"Well, just don't have a hangover when you come pick me up."

"Will do."

"I love you, Damon."

"I love you too." She smiled before leaving. When I returned to the Boarding House, I was taken aback by the loud music from the living room. I walked toward the stair case and saw two dead girls on the floor. I turned to the parlor and saw Stefan sitting on the couch while two compelled girls were playing Twister.

"Uh-oh. Alexandra, left hand, please," said Stefan.

"Hey, the two brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug," I growled.

"You mean, they owe us a Persian rug? It's my house too, brother. Ooh! Would you like a spin?"

"So this is what Klaus had in mind when he compelled you to protect Elena?"

"These ladies are helping me be all that I can be," said Stefan as a knock came to the door. I opened it and Rebekah entered with several shopping bags.

"Where's Stefan?" she asked.

"Who the hell are you?"

"He left me here. My brother actually left me here," Rebekah complained to Stefan.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Your tone implies that I'm actually supposed to care."

"You're Klaus' sister?" I asked.

"Rebekah. Pleasure, I'm sure. Which one's my room?"

"You're not staying here," Stefan answered. Rebekah looked at me and I just crossed my arms.

"Rude. Both of you. I'll see to it myself."

"So I guess she's staying here," Stefan replied. I rolled my eyes and walked upstairs to my room. I then called Katherine.

"What?" she answered.

"What? What do you mean 'what'? I've been calling you since last night."

"Odd, that's exactly how long I've been ignoring you."

"Jeremy Gilbert told me that you found Mikael."

"Sort of. He's a little bit out of commission. He won't eat. And I've tried everything...gravediggers, mourners, mice, rats, bats. He's just not interested."

"Well, try harder. We need him to kill Klaus so I can de-ripperfy Stefan before he destroys my house."

"Fine. I'll give it another shot." She hung up and I then called Elena.

"Hey. Are you checking up on me? Because I'm fine."

"So... You might not want to come here for a while. We have a new housemate. Barbie Klaus."

"Rebekah? She's living with you now? Why?"

"She's stranded. Apparently Klaus left her in the dust after I name-dropped Mikael."

"What about…Stefan? What is he up to?"

"Is that the bell? Oh...Ring! Ring! Don't want to be late." I hung up. A few hours later, I pulled back up at the school near the track. Elena had texted me to pick her up there. I got out of my Camaro, the top down, and leaned against the door as I watched Elena running. Stefan had joined her and I was just about to punch his lights out when I decided to listen into the conversation first.

"Look at you being all fit. Hey, you going to the bonfire tonight? Sounds like fun," said Stefan.

"Seriously, Stefan, leave me alone," Elena replied, turning to run the other way, but he followed her.

"You think I'm annoying now? Wait till homecoming. Hey, who you bringing, by the way? I don't want it to be weird." At that moment, a guy accidently ran into Elena.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Suddenly, Stefan pushed the guy.

"Watch it, dick!"

"Who are you!" Elena yelled to Stefan.

"I'm the guy who's been assigned to protect a human blood bag. I mean, no offense or anything." Elena just shook her head and walked toward me. "What!"

"Get me out of here," she whispered and we left to have lunch at the Grill. "I want to lock Stefan up. At least until Mikael comes, kills Klaus, and the compulsion breaks."

"Then can I kick his ass?"

"You can do whatever you want as far as I'm concerned."

"Well, compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood. A lot of it."

"You've gotten him off it before," Elena replied, pulling her hair out of its hairband.

"This is different. It's not a stint in rehab, Elena. His humanity's gone. Lights out. No one's home."

"Then do it for me, Damon. Every single time I look at him, I feel like I'm going to fall apart after what he did to me and I refuse to give him that satisfaction."

"I'll do whatever you need me to do, Elena. No one's going to hurt you. Especially not my brother," I whispered before kissing her.

"My, my. You didn't tell me this was about a girl." I broke from the kiss to see Emma standing in front of our table, hands on her hips, a smirk plastered on her face.

"Emma."

"Damon." We hugged and she kissed me on the cheek.

"Damon?" Elena asked.

"I called in some reinforcements last night. Elena, this is Emma Bancroft. She's a fixer."

"Lovely to meet you, Elena. I've heard all sorts of things about you, but I take it the rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated."

"Emma and I are old friends," I explained.

"And let's not forget I'm Stefan's ex," Emma replied. "So I hear you two want to lock him up."

"Umm," Elena said.

"Don't worry. I'm not interested in a Stefan's who has lost his humanity and since he's not on the market I need him back to the way he was. I'm here to help. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Okay. Thank you," Elena replied.

"I like her. She's much nicer than Katerina."

"Tell me about it," I muttered.

"I need to know everything that's happened."

"Klaus compelled him."

"To do what?"

"Protect me."

"I'm sorry. I believe I misspoke. I need to know his exact words."

"He told him to turn it off."

"That was the only thing he was compelled to do?"

"Also, to protect me."

"What's happened since the compulsion?"

"Um, he bit me and then he, um…" Emma could see Elena's struggle and placed a hand on hers.

"I understand how difficult this must be for you. Has anything happened today?"

"Um, Damon took me to school and there were dead flowers in my locker."

"What?" Damon asked.

"I didn't want to worry you. He also showed up at school. He's torturing me."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that for much longer. I will take care of this, but it will have to be a group effort. A Ripper, especially one high on blood, isn't easy to take down." Elena nodded. "I'm going to drop my things off at your place, Damon. Then I'll do a little spying of my own." Suddenly, Caroline and Bonnie approached.

"Elena, what are you doing with him!" Caroline yelled. Damon growled in irritation.

"We're having lunch."

"Yeah, well, what about Stefan?"

"He tried to kill me, Caroline. I'm done."

"So you're shacking up with his brother instead?" Bonnie asked.

"You, guys, don't understand. He's been there for me when no one else has. I love him."

"Did you compel her?" Caroline asked. I groaned, rolling my eyes. Emma then stepped in between our table and Caroline and Bonnie.

"I'm sorry. I believe we haven't met. I'm Emma Bancroft."

"And we should care why?" Caroline asked. Emma chuckled.

"Uh oh," I whispered." Emma then slammed Caroline on the table. The other guests turned to look at us.

"Nothing to see here, people. Just having a friendly little chat," Emma mass-compelled. Everyone returned to their business. "As for you, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that and don't try your witchy nonsense on me, Bennett. It won't work. I'm very old. Now I haven't been here for very long, but once I entered the room I could tell with my own eyes that the fair Elena was quite smitten and shall I say enamored with my friend here. And as for your friend, she's been through quite a lot so why don't you mind your own business and be a good, supportive little vampire?"

"Alright, fine. Just let me go," Caroline growled.

"TTFN," Emma replied before disappearing.

That night, I walked into Alaric's classroom with Elena. Emma had asked for a meeting and I called Alaric and Caroline to join us.

"Well, looks like everyone's here," said Emma.

"What do you want?" Caroline groaned. Emma shot her a look. "I mean how can we help you, ma'am." Elena and I chuckled at Caroline's personality switch.

"I'm going to lure Stefan away form the bonfire. While he's distracted, I'm going to snap his neck. Alaric, you'll bring your car around to pick him up. Now I hear that there's a cell located underneath the Sheriff's Office."

"Yeah. It's the old Forbes jail cell. I can get it prepped and ready," Caroline volunteered.

"Excellent."

"We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blond ponytail tends to follow," I snapped.

"Which is why it's your job to keep her away," Emma smirked.

"How? She's an Original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers."

"Well, then preoccupy her with that Salvatore charm of yours."

"Might have better luck finding the dagger," Alaric said.

"Are you ever not going to be mad at me, Ric?"

"Doubtful," said Alaric as Tyler entered the room.

"Sorry, I'm late. What's going on?"

"Tyler, we need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while," Elena explained.

"You can't do that to Stefan."

"Why not?" Caroline asked.

"Trust me, Tyler. It's in his best interest," Elena added.

"Yeah. It's not in Klaus'."

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion?" Caroline asked. Immediately, Emma and I looked at each other.

"Uh-oh," Emma muttered.

"What?" Alaric asked.

"Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything."

"Oh, boy," I murmured.

"Okay, can we cool it on the commentary, please," said Caroline as Emma eyed a vervain dart on Alaric's desk.

"I'm just going to go." Suddenly, Emma rushed over to Tyler, stabbing him with a vervain dart. He immediately collapsed.

"What are you doing!" Caroline yelled.

"He's been sired," I sighed.

"What?" Elena asked.

"Sired. He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus' blood created him," Emma elaborated.

"Loyal how?"

"He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids."

"So how do I fix him?" Caroline asked.

"Get a new boyfriend."

At the bonfire, Rebekah was trying to pour herself a beer when Stefan joined her.

"You all right there?" he asked.

"I thought Tyler would be here."

"You're into Tyler now? That's kind of fickle."

"When you're willing to give me the time of day again, then we'll talk. Until then, a girl has needs."

"Excuse me," Emma said as she arrived and poured herself a beer.

"Emma?" Stefan asked. "Hey. What are you doing here? Thought you were in London."

"Hmm. I decided a trip to see my favorite Salvatore was in order. Damon. You got a problem with that?" she asked after drinking a whole glass of beer.

"All right. Take it easy. We both know you can't hold your beer."

"Uh-huh. Really? You think I'm going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?" She then walked away.

As the evening progressed, Rebekah was sitting alone, trying to roast a marshmallow when I joined her.

"What? No friends your own age?" Rebekah asked.

"Like you can talk."

"Is this supposed to be fun? I've been through ten of these."

"No, you're just looking at it all wrong. This is a little rough on the outside." I removed the outside of the treat. "But the inside…yum."

"Mmm. It's good," said Rebekah after eating it.

"Yup." From afar, Elena, scowling, was watching us when Stefan joined her.

"What's that look?"

"What look?" she sighed.

"Well, my brother's got his flirt on and you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"It's all right. Be jealous. I'm sure Damon will be thrilled."

"I'm not jealous, Stefan!" Elena yelled drunkenly.

"All right. My mistake."

"Whatever. I'm out of here." Elena left and Stefan soon caught up with Emma who was by the football field. As I watched Elena leave out of the corner of my eye, I handed Rebekah a marshmallow sandwich.

"Can't believe you've never had one of these before," I said.

"Well, I've been in a casket for ninety years."

"That's no excuse," I said as she ate.

"Why are you being so nice to me? You hate me. You should be mean."

"Well, I could be mean if that's what you're into."

"You're distracting me. Why?"

"Just trying to be a good housemate."

"There's no fair fight between us, Damon. Remember that," Rebekah said as she stabbed me with a wooden stick and left.

"That bitch," I groaned as I removed the wood.

At the football field, Emma was lying on the bleachers and looking up into the sky when Stefan arrived. She was pretending to be drunk.

"Hmm. That's Orion," she slurred. "I think."

"You're drunk. You need to go home."

"Fine. Let me find my car," Emma said, getting up.

"You're joking, right?"

"Uh-oh. It's the fun police. I thought that ripper Stefan was supposed to be the life of the party."

"All right, I'm driving you home. Come on," Stefan said as Emma spanned the banister. "What are you? Five? Get down."

"Why? Are you afraid that I'm going to…" She almost falls. "Oh. Ha. That was close."

"You're hilarious."

"Look, Stefan. No hands." She removed her hands and fell to the ground, but Stefan rushed to catch her just in time. "I knew you'd catch me."

Stefan looked at her as if caught in a trance when her hands found their way to both sides of his face and in under a second, Emma snapped his neck. Making sure no one had seen, Emma hauled Stefan onto her back and opened the trunk of an SUV in the parking lot. Alaric was in the driver's seat.

"Let's go," Emma said when she entered the passenger seat.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You don't look that sober."

"Stefan was right about one thing. Give me bourbon over beer any day of the week. The plan worked. That's all that matters. Let's get out of here."

After the plan's success, I stopped by Elena's house and saw her sitting on the porch swing.

"You played your part of the plan really well tonight," she said when I joined her.

"Oh, yeah?"

"You had Rebekah drooling all over you and your marshmallows."

"Yeah, before she skewered me. I thought you were too drunk to notice."

"I was faking most of it."

"So was I." Elena smiled and looked down, her hair shielding her face. I tipped her face up and kissed her. "It'll always be you."

"Doesn't mean I can't be jealous."

"No, it doesn't. I actually kind of like it. It's hot."

"What's Emma going to do to him?"

"Oh, I think it's best if we don't know. All that matters is that she'll snap him out of it."

"You're pretty confident."

"Emma's an expert at bringing back the humanity in vampires. She has a 100% success rate. They call her the Pitbull because once she bites she doesn't let go. She won't stop until he's back to normal. I have to ask. What'll happen then?"

"He hurt me, Damon. Nothing can change that. I can't…go back." She then took my hand in hers. "We're going to live our life and we're going to be happy no matter what. I just have one thing to ask."

"Name it."

"I know it's probably not typical with you, but can we take things a little slow? I rushed into everything with Stefan and that was a mistake and I don't want to screw things up and…"

"Shh. You're rambling. And we'll take things at whatever pace is comfortable for you. I've waited this long and I think I can wait a little longer."

"Thank you."

"Anything for you."

After kissing Elena goodnight, I left for the Boarding House and began to pull up the rug by the staircase. I then heard a vase break.

"Emma? This isn't funny. Do you know how expensive that vase was?" I picked up the broken pieces and then somebody hit me hard. I fell onto the floor, but didn't hear or see anyone. What the hell was going on?


	2. There's No Going Back

It was hours before I woke up tied to a chair with a poker through his chest. My ring was lying on the floor.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Emma! I know you like games, but this is ridiculous! Emma, get your ass down here!"

"What the hell happened to you?" Emma asked, entering the room.

"Whatever twisted game this is leave me out of it."

"I didn't do this."

"Quit screwin' around!"

"I didn't. It's pretty messed up though, isn't it?" She removed the poker from my chest and I screamed in pain. She removed one of the chains and left.

"Yeah, not to worry. I'll just untangle myself!" Suddenly, the curtain opened, allowing sunlight to enter the room. I screamed in pain as my skin began to burn. Thank God for Elena. She entered the house and heard the noise. She rushed to me and shielded me from the sun.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she caressed my now healing skin.

"I'm better now." The drape then closed. "Something is going on in this house." Elena grabbed my ring and put it back on my finger as I ripped the rest of my bonds off. "Let's go find, Bonnie. Stupid witch messed up the spell when she got rid of Vicki Donovan's ghost."

"What? Her ghost?"

"I found out about it last night. Long story. I'll tell it to you when we get to the car."

After detailing the story to Elena of how Jeremy was seeing ghosts and Matt accidently allowed Vicki to gain more of a foothold in their plane of existence, I found Caroline and Bonnie at her house, putting up lanterns for the Night of Illumination.

"Greetings, Blondie, Witchy. I think you got your voodoo wires all crossed when you got rid of Vicki Donovan," Damon said, stopping his car.

"What do you mean? Why?" Bonnie asked.

"Because Damon just got spit-roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost," Elena replied.

"What? Why would you think that?" Caroline asked.

"Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker in my chest. Let's just say I'm having déjà vu."

"I thought you said that ghosts couldn't physically interact with people," Caroline said to Bonnie.

"They can't."

"Yeah, well, I don't have time for a vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone, they're supposed to stay dead. Whatever you screwed up, fix it," I added before I took off. Elena and I then stopped by the Mystic Grill to catch up with Alaric.

"You know, I've had enough vampires today. Thanks," Alaric groaned.

"Oh come on. Have a drink with me. We've got trouble."

"No, you've got trouble. See, we're not a team. You tried to kill me. We're not friends. I don't like you anymore."

"Ah! But remember back when you liked me and we conspired to kill Uncle werewolf Mason Lockwood?"

"Yeah, and?"

"I think he's still a little pissed."

"Uh, Damon," said Elena. She pointed behind me.

"Mason. Lovely," I muttered.

"God, I miss whisky," Mason said, taking my glass and drinking it. He then crushed the glass against my forehead.

"Told ya," I said to Alaric. "Let's get to it. I killed you. You want revenge. Get in line."

"Actually, I want an apology."

"Good luck with that," Alaric laughed.

"Don't you have a family to haunt? You know your nephew has turned into a mindless hybrid minion."

"That's why I'm here. To help Tyler."

"Well, sorry to break it to you, buddy, but Tyler can't be helped. At least not while Klaus is alive. Which is, like, always."

"Not necessarily. Not if you found a weapon that could kill him."

"There is no weapon that...what do you know?"

"I know you need to apologize."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Are you incapable of remorse? Just apologize!" Alaric yelled.

"You're right. I didn't have to kill you. I do a lot of things I don't have to do."

"That's good enough," Mason laughed. "Meet me at the old Lockwood cellar. Bring a shovel. And come alone."

"What, you're going to bury me alive?"

"Don't tempt me." Elena then received a call from Caroline.

"How do we do that?" Elena asked.

"Apparently the old witch can draw power from this side because of her talisman."

"Talisman. My necklace?"

"It's some ju-ju power source. And I know you're not going to like this, but Bonnie needs to destroy it."

"Look, I don't have the necklace. Damon has it somewhere and he just left. Text him."

Meanwhile, at the city jail, Emma kicked Stefan.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," said Emma as Stefan woke. "How you feelin'?"

"What is this? Let me out of here!" Stefan yelled, looking at the chair and chains.

"Sh. Inside voices, please. I'm trying to get inside your head. First step, drying you out. Starve away the blood lust. Strip away the temptation."

"This isn't going to work, Emma. You can't do this."

"I can and I will," said Emma, looking straight into Stefan's eyes.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked as he began to see his arms and hands changing.

"I'm saving your life."

"I'm starving. Let me out! Please let me out!"

"You're hallucinating. That's three months without any blood."

"Let me out!"

"Nine months. Two years. Now five."

Meanwhile at the old Lockwood cellar, Mason was lighting a lantern when I arrived with a shovel.

"I'm surprised you showed," Mason said.

"My only other Klaus lead isn't panning out so I'd say I'm highly motivated."

"Mikael? Yeah. That didn't turn out so great, did it?"

"How do you know so much?"

"There's not much to do on the Other Side but sit around and watch other people screw things up."

"What are we looking for?"

"There's an old Lockwood family legend about a weapon that can kill an Original vampire. Like the rest of their secrets, they kept it buried," said Mason as he tried to break through a brick wall with the shovel.

"Oh, come on, give me the thing. Move." Using my vampire strength, I broke through the wall and we both looked through the hole.

"Go for it."

"You first."

"What, you think I'm leading you into a trap?"

"The thought crossed my mind." Shaking his head, Mason entered first with me following him. After a few minutes of walking through the catacombs, I spoke again, "I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Your motives are deceptively pure."

"You talk the talk, but I know you'll do anything for your brother. You won't screw me over as long as we have the same agenda."

"I'm supposed to believe you're not going to screw me over? All right. Which way?"

"I don't know. Flip a coin."

"Aren't you supposed to be all-knowing?"

"I'm a ghost. I'm not God. Go left." Damon turned right instead. "Or not. You have trust issues. Anyone ever tell you that?" As I continued walking, stakes shot through my body. I yelled in pain. I tried to remove them, but my hands burned. They were coated with vervain.

"Yo. Help a brother out? Mason?" But Mason had disappeared. He returned a few minutes later with a shovel. "Oh, I'm having a bad day."

"Sorry. Thought you might need this," said Mason as he broke through the stakes with a shovel and removed them. "You're welcome."

"What's your game, man? I killed you. I jammed my fist into your chest. I ripped your heart out. There's no way this whole buddy-trust act is real."

"You know what the Other Side is like? We're all alone. We watch the people we left behind and we regret our decisions. That's it. Look, I can't change what happened to me. But maybe I can change what happens to Tyler. I don't need revenge, Damon. I need redemption." As we continued to walk through the caverns, Mason arrived at a large cave, but I couldn't pass through the opening.

"God! This is not happening."

"What now?"

"I can't get through. It's like I'm not invited in. Wait!"

"I'm not stopping just 'cause you're stuck. I'll let you know what I find."

"Yeah, but..."

"Looks like you're gonna have to trust me." Mason walked into the cave and looked at one of the walls, amazed.

"So? What'd you find?

"It's in—" Suddenly, Mason disappeared.

"No, no, no. Where'd you go? Mason!"

Later in the day, I was sitting down in the old Lockwood cellar when Alaric arrived.

"You're here," I said. "It's about time."

"Didn't have anyone else to call?

"No, actually, I don't, Ric. 'Cause I need a non-vampire to get in the cave, and other than Elena, you're pretty much the only one I trust."

"Well, you have a crappy way of showing it."

"Look, if Mason Lockwood can get over the fact that I killed him, can't you cut me a little slack, Ric?"

"I shouldn't have to get over it. I was your friend, Damon. You shouldn't have done it in the first place."

"Well! Sometimes...I do things I don't have to do."

"You're going to recycle that same crap ass apology you gave Mason Lockwood?"

"Yeah. Well...I didn't mean it with him." Alaric smiled and walked into the cave. "So was Mason screwing with me or is there something in there?"

"I found something," said Alaric, stunned.

"What is it?"

"I have no idea," Alaric answered, looking at the drawings on the wall.

Meanwhile, Emma was continuing her attempts to break through Stefan's bloodlust and compulsion.

"Quit fighting me, Stefan. I know you're in there," she said.

"Not anymore, Emma."

"You know you say that every time until I make you feel again." Emma then opened the vent and Stefan burned. She then shut it.

"So what are you going to do, Emma? You just going to stand there? Waiting for me to dry out?" Stefan asked weakly. Emma then shook her head and walked toward the door.

"No, I'm going to go home and get some blood. I'm starving."

"That's good for you. You know, I was wondering when you were going to give up."

"I haven't given up, Stefan. I still have hope. But there's nothing that I can do until you get yours back. You can break through this. Fight for it. Feel something. Anything, Stefan. Because if you don't, you're going to lose everything."

"Emma."

"What?" she snapped coldly.

"Do you still love me?"

"What does that…"

"I hurt you so badly and I hurt Elena."

"Are you afraid, Stefan? Afraid that if you turn it on everyone will hate you, that no one will love you?" Emma could see she was breaking through so she leaned down in front of him and kissed him. "No matter how dark you go, how much the blood consumes you, I will always pull you back because I love you."

"I can't leave."

"I know. But just think of this. Your true loyalty doesn't have to be to Klaus because I can help you kill him. I can get you out of this crap town and you'll never have to see Elena or Damon again if you don't want to." Emma then left, making sure she locked the door.


	3. Safe And Sound

At Alaric's apartment, Elena and I were sparring as Alaric and Emma went over the pictures he had taken from the Lockwood cave.

"As far as I can tell, it's a story. In simple, archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story. That right there is the moon cycle. A man, a wolf."

"A werewolf," Emma surmised.

"Yeah, it's the Lockwood Diaries. Pictionary style," I said.

"I don't get it. I thought the Lockwoods came here with the original founders in the 1860s," Elena replied.

"I don't know. Maybe the Lockwoods did, but according to this, these werewolves have been here a lot longer than that," said Alaric.

"How long?"

"Long," I replied.

"These names. They're not native. Written in Runic, a Viking script."

"Vikings?"

"Yeah," said Emma. "It's all starting to make sense."

"You can read it?" Alaric asked.

"I've been around about as long as the Originals. Vikings would often come plunder the surrounding villages where I lived. I've come accustomed to their handiwork. Niklaus. Elijah. Rebekah."

"These are the names of the Original Family?" Elena asked.

"Carved into a cave that's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls or even the entire New World for that matter."

"This has got to be one of Klaus' fakes."

"That what I said," I replied.

"Possible, but this name makes me think otherwise. Mikael."

"Mikael. Mikael as in the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?" Elena asked.

"I now like to call him Papa Original," I smirked.

"These images tell a story," said Alaric. "To learn the story you have to decipher the images."

"Sloppy," I said, disarming Elena as she tried to stake him.

"Shut up. I'm new at this."

"Ghost of Christmas Past Mason Lockwood said this cave would lead us to a weapon that can kill Klaus."

"Yeah, but doesn't Mikael have a weapon?" Elena asked.

"Yes. Which probably means the wall will lead us to Mikael, who we have already found and lost."

"These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is," Alaric suggested.

"Then all we have to do is find out what they mean."

"Alright, if I'm being irritatingly optimistic like the two of you," Emma said, pointing to Alaric and Elena, "…how do you suppose we do that?"

"Well, if the story is about the Original Family living here, then we go straight to the source."

At Mystic Falls High, Elena appeared behind Rebekah who was training with the cheerleaders.

"You! Goody."

"I was hoping we could talk," Elena smiled.

"About what? Stefan? Don't worry. I'm off him until he starts treating me better. In fact, you should probably take a page out of my book if I'm being honest."

"Actually, I'd rather talk about this." She showed Rebekah a picture of the runes on the cave wall. "I'm curious why you and Klaus have spent a thousand years running from your father."

"I should get back to the girls. Homecoming's right around the corner."

"Well then, maybe I'll ask Mikael when we wake him."

"You're bluffing! You don't know where he is. No one does."

"So then who's rotting in that old cemetery in Charlotte?"

"If you wake Mikael, we are all doomed!"

"So then tell me!"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Why don't you want me to wake him?"

"I need to get back to the girls."

Thirty minutes later, Elena was walking up the staircase to Alaric's apartment, talking to me on her cellphone.

"She is going to tell me. She is scared of him, Damon. I saw her face. I just have to engage in a little mean girl power struggle first."

"Just make sure she doesn't power struggle you into a wheelchair."

"I've got this, Damon. So, how does he look?" she asked as she entered the apartment.

"Hmm. Pasty and pouty."

"He'll have to get over it. Call me later," said Elena before turning to Alaric, "Rebekah will come 'round."

"You're sure about that? I mean a thousand year old vampire, I'm sure, is well versed in the art of patience."

"She's a thousand year old vampire who's joined the cheerleading squad. There's a whole different set of rules at play here, Ric."

At the Forbes jail cell, Emma opened the door to see a very pale Stefan and I entered behind her.

"You know, if you're gonna keep me locked in here for the next decade I think we can skip the routine visits," Stefan rasped.

"You know I'm not a big champion of this whole recovery plan, but Em here thinks this place is gonna weaken you out, break you down, and make you feel again."

"We should all listen to Emma, right? I mean her plans always work out so well, don't they? Why are you here?"

"What are you talking about, Stef? It's family day out at vampire rehab," Emma replied. "So I'm letting your brother pay a visit."

"Go away."

"Nah. Thought we could hang out, do a little brother bonding. How've you been, Stef'?"

"You know, Klaus may wanna keep Elena alive, but that doesn't mean she's safe with Rebekah."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," Emma replied. "Klaus compelled you to protect Elena and if you thought for a second that she was in any danger, you'd be working a lot harder."

"Got me!"

"Yup."

"You got me. You're good. Congratulations. You two can go now."

"You really have given up," I said.

"Actually, this is my happy face." Stefan then looked at Emma and she could see the look in his eyes. With a slight nod, she knew right then and there he'd agreed to her offer. Emma then broke the chains binding his hands and feet, freeing Stefan the cell.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Change in tactics. I think we could all use a drink. And it's been so long since I've been able to enjoy the company of my boys," Emma replied as she placed her arms around our necks.

Meanwhile, Elena entered the Salvatore Boarding house while Rebekah walked into the foyer with champagne glasses.

"You invited me over? To talk?" Elena asked.

"All right girls, have at it!" Six girls in various jewel-toned homecoming dresses walked in the room. "Okay, now twirl please."

"You compelled your own private runway show?"

"I need a Homecoming dress. So, what do you think? Pick one."

"I'm not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael." Rebekah rushed to one of the girls, grabbed her neck, and vamped out.

"I said 'pick one,' Elena."

"The... red one."

"There. It wasn't so hard, was it?" She turned to her puppets. "Go away. Remember nothing." The girls left and she turned to Elena again. "You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?" Elena nodded and Rebekah walked past her. They walked up into Stefan's room. "How fun is this...?" She started opening drawings.

"We shouldn't be here..."

"'Course we should! Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop. Boxer briefs. A lot has changed since the twenties."

"Are you gonna root through his stuff all night or are you gonna start to tell me your story?"

"Ah... you really are no fun. What do you want to know?"

"Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here?"

"My parents had just started a family when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."

"So, how did you end up here? This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet."

"Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy... blessed by the gifts of speed and strength; that lead my family here, where we lived amongst those people."

"The werewolves?"

"To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over 20 years during which time my family had more children including me."

"You make it sound so normal."

"It was. Once a month our family retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we'd return home. One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother, Henrik, snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik paid the price. And that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors and one of the last moments my family had together as human." Elena's phone then rang. "You better get that. That'll be Damon checking up on you."

"Hello?"

"Hey!"

"Damon? Where are you?"

"No idea, but I'm pretty sure, I'm overdressed," I said as I entered a country bar with Stefan and Emma. "Still standing?"

"Yes, I'm fine, but I can't talk right now," said Elena as she overheard Stefan in the background. "Is that Stefan?"

"Yeah. Emma kinda went off book. Don't worry. I think she knows what she's doing."

"Damon!"

"I got this, Elena," I said before hanging up. "What are we drinking?"

"For me something a little bit warmer, blonder," said Stefan, signaling for a waitress.

"Hi!" the bartender said.

"Hello…Callie. I would love a shot of your best whiskey and my friend here would love a shot of you," said Emma, compelling the girl.

"What's the catch, Emma?"

"No catch. Drink up. It's on me." Stefan grabbed Callie's wrist and he bit her. "Hi, Callie." After his drink, we sat at a table and started flipping coins into a glass.

"Drink up, brother!" said Stefan, flipping a coin into the glass.

"You been on this 'bunny diet' for a better part of fifty years. So, how is it that 'Saint Stefan' of all people is good at a drinking game?" I asked.

"Well, the bunny diet gave me a lot of time to practice. Wallow in despair, drown in guilt, regret my existence. It's precision born out of tragic boredom. Drink up, brother!" said Stefan as he flipped three more coins into the glass.

"All that effort wasted trying to tell you how boring you are and now you finally agree with me?"

"Damon, you are worse than her," said Stefan, pointing to Emma. "Getting me drunk, brotherly bonding. What do you think? I'll break down and you can pull me back from the edge?"

"I happen to like the edge, Stefan. Your problem is your inability to resist falling over it. You're all or nothing, man. Can't just be. Although who am I to judge," said Damon as he flipped a coin into the glass. "Drink up, brother."

Back at the Boarding House, Rebekah was lying on the bed, going through one of Stefan's diaries.

"Did you get your fill of snooping yet? Can we get on with the story?" Elena asked.

"That necklace you wore. It wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the Original Witch."

"The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?"

"Not just the hybrid curse. She's the one who turned us into vampires. I'm thirsty. Do you want a drink?" Elena followed Rebekah into the library.

"So vampirism was a form of protection?"

"What else would it be?"

"A curse?"

"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive."

"Yeah, but why stay if they were so afraid of the werewolves? Why not leave?"

"Pride. My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses. Everything was heightened. Our family could live forever. It was left in the hands of my mother."

"In her hands? How could she do anything?"

"Because my mother was a witch."

"What?"

"The witch of the Original Family. The Original Witch? Where do they keep their best vintage?"

"But if your mother was a witch, then..."

"Am I? No, a witch is nature's servant; a vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn."

"How did you turn?"

"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts."

"He killed you?"

"And he wasn't delicate about it either." She took a bottle of wine, broke its neck off and threw it into the fireplace. "We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual. It was euphoric! The feeling of power was indescribable...but the witch Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back. For every strength there would be a weakness. The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks. And though my mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out. Flowers at the base of the white oak burned, and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away... so we burned it to the ground. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated... the hunger. Blood had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it. And with that, the predatory species was born..."

Back at the bar, Emma and I were dancing on the table as Stefan fed from Callie's neck although it appeared that he was kissing her. Another woman stopped and watched what Stefan was doing. Emma jumped down from the table and compeled the woman to forget and move along, grabbing her scarf.

"Ease up!" said Emma as she dragged Stefan away. "She's giving us her employee discount. Now run along, Callie, and bring us three more."

"So tell me. What's the point of the jailbreak, hm?" Stefan asked.

"I thought you could use a hug, Stefan."

"Come on, Emma. You know Elena is gonna hate you for letting me out."

"And I should care why? Stefan, maybe I wanted to remind you what freedom was like before Klaus took it from you." I then realized exactly what Emma was doing. It was brilliant.

"As long as Klaus is alive I do what he says."

"That's my point, Stefan! You've given up! Now you could sit around and be his little bitch. Or you could get mad enough and do something about it!"

"Emma, he can't be killed."

"Maybe I can help with that. Emma Bancroft and the Salvatore boys, I presume?" said Mikael.

"Mikael," Emma smirked.

Back at the Boarding House, Elena was continuing her questioning of Rebekah.

"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?"

"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame."

"Yeah... Elijah told me this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son."

"She tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."

"Mikael killed your mother?"

"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched. Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother. Elijah, Klaus, and I stuck together. Always and forever."

"Always and forever... even though he locked you in a coffin for 90 years?"

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik... Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."

"But you still love him?"

"He's my brother. And I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead? You've heard the story, it's time to go. I said leave, Elena! I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."

"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael."

"And I've given you a thousand! But you will anyway. I know you want him to help you kill my brother. I'm not stupid."

"It's no secret that I want Klaus dead. He has a hold over Stefan's life, and over mine."

"Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart. And I get my temper from my father. Now leave!"

At the bar, Mikael was interrogating us.

"Is Klaus out of the country?" Mikael asked my brother.

"Can't tell you."

"Has he spoken to you since he left?"

"I can't tell you."

"All right. Can you tell me the last time you spoke to Niklaus?"

"I'm compelled to do what he says and he says to keep my damn mouth shut!"

"I really hope this game of twenty questions isn't your secret weapon," I muttered.

"Shut up, you idiot," Emma whispered.

"You see, Damon, I've been a vampire hunter longer than you've been alive. It's why I found you here. It's why I'm gonna find Niklaus."

"Well, Klaus has been running for about thousand years, so…" Suddenly, Mikael jammed his fist into Damon's chest.

"Careful, Stefan. One move and his heart's gone. Now, where is Klaus? Come on! What's the trick question, Stefan? One twist and he's dead. Unless you don't care of course."

"His emotions have been shut off. He can't care," Emma replied.

"Really? His link to Klaus is so strong that he will let his own brother die? No ideas, hmm? Think, Stefan! I guess you're right! He's a dead end! And so are you, Damon."

"Wait! I can bring him back! I can lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls."

"And there is our loophole," said Mikael, removing his hand from Damon's chest. "Just had to rile him up a bit. Get Klaus back to Mystic Falls and I will gladly drive a stake through his heart. Fail, I'll drive it through yours."

Meanwhile, Alaric and Elena were mulling over the cave drawings in Alaric's apartment.

"I filled in what I could. Vampire, werewolf, slaughter, mayhem, et cetera," he said.

"That's the white oak tree that was used to create the vampires," said Elena, pointing to one photo, "Which means that was when they burned down the tree, destroying the only way that they could be killed."

"Okay so tree equals weapon, sort of. We already knew that. What I'm not sure of is this: we've got the witch symbol and what looks like a bleeding heart. Upside down figures usually signify death, of some kind."

"According to Rebekah, Mikael killed the witch by ripping out her heart. But...why is that one connected to the witch's death? Oh my god! Rebekah doesn't know the real story."

She rushed out of Alaric's apartment to the Boarding House with the photos. Rebekah was on the couch, drinking.

"I thought I told you to leave. Twice!" said Rebekah.

"How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?"

"Nik was there. He told me."

"He lied to you."

"And how do you know that?"

"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols," said Elena, showing her the photos. "The story of your family: how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned you all into vampires, and this. This is the symbol of a hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother."

"Her necklace."

"And this is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the original witch! Not Mikael! Klaus!"

"No! No, he wouldn't!"

"She put the curse on him. Made it so that he was the only one of his kind. And then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. When he turned all that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father, so that he wouldn't lose you!"

"These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, made from stupid people who have no idea how my family was!" Rebekah yelled throwing the photos into the fire.

"Then why are you so upset?"

"Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!"

"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!"

"Shut up! Don't talk anymore!" Rebekah said, crying. Knowing she wasn't going to get any further with Rebekah, Elena left, leaving Rebekah with only her grief.

Outside the bar the brothers were walking on the road, Emma trailing behind them. Only a few street lamps lit up the road.

"I give you ten points for flair," I said.

"At least, we know where Klaus and Elijah learned their tricks from."

"Don't think you had to wait to the last second to have your breakthrough, though."

"I didn't have a breakthrough, Damon."

"Ooh, my brother is about to die and I just had to safe his life for the bajillionth time. Careful, Stefan. Your humanity showing!"

"You know what? You're right, Damon, Emma. You're both right. You reminded me what my freedom felt like. And when we kill Klaus, I'll be free. Free to leave. See, I didn't do this for you, Damon. I did it for myself."

"Sure, Stefan. Whatever you say..."

"Why are you doing this, huh? What do you want from me? Why is everybody trying to save me?"

"Because I have to, Stefan! Because you are in this mess with Klaus because you saved my life. Because I owe you. And I can't just leave you in a cell to rot."

"Aw. Better be careful, brother! Your humanity is showing." Losing my temper, I punched Stefan in the face.

"Damon!" Emma yelled. I then kicked Stefan in the stomach.

"That's for hurting Elena," I growled before leaving.

At Elena's house, Elena walked out of the bathroom, ready for bed when she saw me lying on her bed.

"We got Mikael."

"What? How?"

"I guess Katherine came through. The plan is in motion. See, I told you I had it. Go ahead. Kick, yell, scream. I'm sure you've been planning your rant all day." Elena only shook her head in response.

"I'm not gonna yell at you."

"Why not? Emma went behind our backs, freed Stefan, and you know what? It backfired. He's an even bigger dick than ever...but at least he's a dick on our side."

"I'm not mad. I'm tired. I just wanna go to bed."

"You know, I think Mikael's weapon is a stake cause he mentioned something about it…"

"Well, they must have carved it from the white oak tree before they burned it down."

"So I was right. After all that, the wall led us to Mikael."

"Led us to more than just that. I think I got Rebekah on our side too," said Elena, sliding underneath the covers.

"Really? What did you learn?"

"I learned that she's just a girl. That she lost her mom too you and she loves blindly and recklessly. Even if it consumes her. When all is said and done, there is nothing more important than the bond of family. "

"Well, you should tell that to my brother."

Elena smiled slightly before saying, "I'm not mad at you, Damon. I think you're gonna be the one that saves him and it won't be because of me. It'll be because he loves you." Elena settled against my chest and I switched the light off. "Can I tell you the rest tomorrow?"

"Sure." I moved to get up, but she held me tighter.

"Stay please. I don't have the nightmares when you're here."

"I'll stay as long as you want." I kissed her forehead and we both fell into blissful sleep.


	4. Knock You Out

At the Salvatore Boarding House, Stefan was calling Klaus who was currently in Portland, creating hybrids.

"Portland is fantastic. Once you get over all the whiny music and healthy looking people it is literally a breeding ground for werewolves."

"Your father is dead."

"What did you say to me?"

"Oh, my mistake. Not your actual father and not dead. Mikael. Daggered. What do you want me to do with the body?"

"Well, first I want you to explain to me exactly what happened." Stefan recalled what had happened an hour earlier. The story was that Mikael tried to grab Elena and use her as bait, but Stefan and I had vervained him. Elena then daggered him as Stefan watched. "I wanna see him. I want to see his rotting body for myself."

"Well, he is here. Come by whenever."

"If you are lying to me Stefan, your compulsion will expose you. So is what you are saying the truth?"

"It's true. I saw it with my own eyes."

"I wanna talk to Rebekah."

"That's not a problem. She's right here," said Stefan, handing the phone to Rebekah.

"Hello, Nik."

"Rebekah, love. What's this I hear about Mikael's tragic run in with a dagger?"

"It's true. He's finally out of our lives for good. I miss you. I'm miserable here."

"I'll be home soon."

"Good. I'll see you then, brother," said Rebekah, hanging up the phone. "He bought it. He's coming home."

"Now was that easy or what?" I asked.

"Let's just get this over with," Elena replied as she pulled the dagger out of Mikael's chest.

The next day, Elena and I were in my bedroom at the Boarding House, preparing weapons for tonight.

"We can't trust Rebekah not to turn on us," said Elena, bringing a few empty wolfsbane grenade bottles to the sink.

"Oh really? Cause Original vampires are usually so reliable."

"Bonnie was right. Rebekah may be mad at Klaus now but he is her brother."

"Her lying, mama-killing, dagger-happy brother. Wolfsbane's ready."

"There are too many things that can go wrong with this plan. Too many people that can make it go wrong."

"Well, I am formulating a secret contingency plan."

"Really? What is it?"

"Well, if I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret," I replied as Stefan entered the room.

"I need to borrow a tie."

"You have your own ties."

"I'm a 162 year old vampire and I'm going to a Homecoming Dance. I need better ties."

"You could not go," Elena suggested.

"I'm compelled to protect you. And if I look at your track record at high school dances it's pretty tragic. With my luck you'll go and get yourself murdered by the Homecoming Queen..." He walked away and Elena picked up a wolfsbane grenade. I hit her hand.

"No," I said.

"I know how to do it! Alaric taught me." I took the grenade away from her.

"Elena, if this thing blows up in our face, just remember only one of us heals quickly." Stefan then returned.

"Please tell me that you have a better plan than wolfsbane grenades?"

"Never you mind, brother. The less you know the better."

"My freedom from Klaus rests entirely upon you two executing your plan perfectly. So, excuse me if I'm a bit cynical."

"You're the one that we should be worried about," Elena interjected. "If Klaus asks you one wrong question, whole thing falls apart."

"You do have reason to worry, but if I look back in our history of epic plan failures, it's usually because one of us let our humanity get in the way. If I'm taking odds on how this thing goes down, it's certainly not gonna be me who screws it up. I'll see you at Homecoming. I can't wait."

In Stefan's room, a few hours before the dance, Rebekah was getting ready when Elena entered the room.

"Getting a head start, huh?" Elena asked.

"Embarrassing truth? This is my first high school dance."

"Ever?"

"I never really had time for high school before. Nik and I were always moving around, running. Anyway, I didn't want to leave anything to chance. Have you heard anymore from him?"

"No. But I'm sure that when he does return he'll do it with flair."

"And Damon and my father are all set with their plan?"

"Yes."

"Don't tell me. I don't want to know. I just want to go to the dance and leave the rest to Mikael."

"I know it's really hard. So thank you for helping us get Klaus back into town."

"Just be careful. I've been running for a thousand years for a reason. Mikael is not a good person and he definitely can't be trusted. No one in my family can."

"Are you okay?"

"I've spent my whole life loving and hating my brother with equal measure. I never thought that I'd be the one to help drive a stake through his heart. No tears. I don't want to ruin my makeup. How do I look?"

"Amazing. But you're missing one thing," said Elena as she removed her old necklace from her pocket.

"My mother's necklace."

"You should wear it tonight. May I?" Rebekah nodded and Elena placed it around her neck.

"Thank you." Suddenly, Elena drove Mikael's dagger through Rebekah's back into her heart.

"I'm sorry, but I can't leave anything to chance either," she whispered as Rebekah's complexion grew ashen and she fell to the floor dead. A few minutes later, I entered the room and covered Rebekah's body with a blanket as Elena sat on the bed.

"In the back. Harsh!" I said.

"It had to be done. Rebekah was never gonna be completely on our side."

"Hey, I'm not judging you. It's very 'Katherine' of you."

"Not the way to make me feel better about myself, Damon."

"It was a compliment. Sort of."

"Stefan's right. Someone's gonna let their humanity get in the way and screw this whole thing up and it's probably gonna be me."

"Elena, you just daggered somebody. You will be fine."

"Yeah, but I feel bad about it. I care too much. That's the problem, Damon. I'm the weak link."

"If it makes you feel any better, she's not really dead."

"Do you trust him? Mikael?"

"No."

"What about Stefan?"

"Hell no."

"Then we need a better plan."

"I know what to do. You're just not gonna like it."

"Why not?"

"Because when this all goes down, I don't want you having any part of it."

"What does that mean?"

"Do you trust me?" Elena grabbed my hand.

"With my life."

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

As night descended over Mystic Falls and the plan to kill Klaus was put into motion, I poured myself a glass of blood in the living room when Mikael entered.

"Did my daughter go to the dance?"

"Yep. You missed the photo op. Did you get the stake?"

"I did."

"I'm not gonna take your word for it. No offense to your honor and all..."

"None taken," said Mikael as he pulled a stake from his jacket pocket.

"Fancy. May I?"

"It's the only weapon on this earth that can kill an Original. So I think I'll hold on to it. No offense."

"I'd offer you a drink, but Katherine tells me you're more of a 'vampire on the rocks' kind of guy."

"Well, technically you could still offer."

"Why feed on vampires? Don't tell me it's for the smooth aftertaste."

"I had a hand in creating vampires, but the bloodlust was never my intention. Over the centuries I've learned to feed from the predator, not the innocent," said Mikael as Stefan walked in.

"Change of plans. Klaus is back. He is at the Lockwood's and he wants your body delivered to his doorstep."

"I'm afraid he is in for a colossal disappointment," Mikael replied.

"Well, he's certainly not gonna come here. I hope your plan didn't depend on that?"

"Didn't depend on that," I answered.

"But you do have a plan, right?"

"Oh, yeah. We have a plan. Just doesn't involve you." Suddenly Mikael leapt forward, grabbed Stefan, and fed on him. It didn't take long for Stefan to fall into unconsciousness. "You couldn't just break his neck?"

"Well, the thought certainly occurred to me."

Meanwhile at the Lockwood party, Klaus walked up to Elena who was standing on the balcony of the back porch.

"Where's your date?" Klaus asked.

"Getting me a drink."

"Well, seems I have you to thank for Mikael's demise."

"He came at me. I didn't have a choice."

"Still I'm impressed. You seem nervous."

"I'm not nervous. I just don't like you."

"Let's get straight to the point then, shall I, love? People have been after me for a thousand years. And I am always one step ahead. So whatever it is you're thinking of trying, go for it. Give it your best shot. You won't succeed. You'd be smart to tell Damon to mind his manners tonight, because if I die, I've already ensured that he'll die along with me! Even in death my hybrids have their orders. So, you kill me you're killing him too."

Outside the house, I walked up to the front door where one of Klaus' hybrids was standing.

"Invite only, vampire."

"Here's my RSVP," I said as I removed the hybrid's heart. "Hybrid." As Tyler walked down the stairs, he ran into me. I grabbed him and threw him into his father's old office. "As the host, you should know these hybrids don't make the best first impression."

"Whatever move you're making, Klaus is gonna be ready for you. He'll kill anyone at this party if he has to."

"Tell someone who cares," I replied as I attacked Tyler. However, before Tyler could bite me, Bonnie came in, inducing migraines. "What the hell is wrong with you! You weren't supposed to witchy migraine me!"

"You weren't supposed to kill Tyler!"

"He tried to bite me!" I said as I picked up the Ancient white oak stake from the floor and placed it in my jacket.

"What is that?"

"Nothing."

"Oh my god is that the…"

"Shh. They're everywhere," I mouthed.

"Why do you have it?"

"Because I'm the only one who can get inside the house!"

By the front door, Klaus had come face-to-face with his father who was outside.

"Hello, Niklaus," Mikael greeted.

"Hello, Mikael. Why don't you come in? Oh, that's right. I forgot. You can't."

"Or you can come outside if you want."

"Or I could watch my hybrids tear you limb from limb."

"They can't kill me."

"True. But it'll make a hell of a party game. All I have to do is rub these two fingers together and they'll pounce."

"The big bad wolf. You haven't changed. Still hiding behind your playthings like a coward. You forget. They may be sired by you, but they're still part vampire. And they can be compelled by me," said Mikael as a female hybrid pushed Elena toward Mikael. "Come out and face me, Niklaus. Or she dies."

"Go ahead. Kill her."

"No, Klaus. He`ll do it," Elena warned.

"If she dies, this lot will be the last of your abominations."

"I don't need them. I just need to be rid of you."

"To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one. No one."

"I'm calling your bluff, father. Kill her."

"Come outside and face me, you little coward, and I won't have to."

"My whole life you've underestimated me. If you kill her you lose your leverage. So go ahead. Go on. Kill her. Come on, old man. Kill her. Kill her!"

"Your impulse, Niklaus," Mikael laughed. "It has and will forever be the one thing that keeps you from truly being great." Mikael stabbed Elena with a knife and she fell to the ground, dead. Suddenly, I came up behind Klaus and stabbed him in the stomach with the white oak tree stake as Elena rose from the floor.

"Katerina," Mikael whispered, remembering the scent of Katherine's blood. Emma then sped into the party and threw two wolfsbane grenades.

"Kaboom." As I was about to stake Klaus, Stefan pushed me off the Original vampire and held me down.

"What are you doing!" I yelled. Klaus removed the stake from his body and drove it through Mikael's heart, killing his father. "What the hell did you do?"

"He's earned his freedom. Thank you, my friend. You no longer have to do as I say. You're free," said Klaus as he uncompelled Stefan. As Stefan turned around to look for me, he realized I had fled as had Katherine.

"Let's go," said Stefan to Emma. Grabbing her hand, they both left the Lockwood property.

About an hour later at the Boarding House, Elena questioned me as to what had happened.

"How did this happen?"

"I thought of everything, Elena!" I said, pouring myself a drink. "Klaus having hybrids. Mikael turning on us. I brought in Katherine so you weren't in danger. Anything that could have gone wrong, I was prepared!"

"I don't understand. Stefan wanted Klaus dead more than anything! That's what we were counting on."

"We blew it."

"Where's Katherine?"

"She ran for the hills like usual the minute things got bad. And who blames her! Klaus would've crushed her. I had him, Elena. I had Klaus. This could have all been over!" I yelled as I threw my tumbler of bourbon into the fire.

"Hey. Damon…Hey! Listen to me! We'll survive this. We always survive. Trust me."

"We're never getting Stefan back. You know that, don't you?"

"I accepted that the minute he…touched me, Damon. I don't blame you. You couldn't have possibly known this would happen." Damon's phone then rang. It was Emma.

"Not interested in a play by play of our failure right now, Emma."

"I don't know what to tell you. You had a good plan, Damon. And that's high praise coming from me."

"That's not very comforting at the moment."

"Goodbye, Damon." She hung up. "Good thing I eavesdropped on Katherine's conversation with Klaus. He doesn't know where it all went wrong."

"He doesn't need to know," Stefan replied. "How did you know that I would stop Damon?"

"I didn't. I was just hoping that you'd want to. I wasn't just trying to save Damon's life, Stefan. I was trying to save yours. Your humanity. It's a vampire's greatest weakness. No matter how easy it is to turn it off it just keeps trying to fight it's way back in."

"I can't let it all back in. I don't want to. Not after everything I've done."

"Of course you don't want to, but if you don't let yourself feel, you won't be able to do what I need you to do next."

"What's that?"

"Get mad." Stefan smirked. A few hours later, he called Klaus.

"Stefan! Miss me already?"

"I'm just calling to thank you for my freedom."

"Oh, I like to believe I'm a man of my word, more or less."

"Thing is, it came at too high of a price. You took everything from me, Klaus."

"Let bygones be bygones, trust me. Resentment get's old."

"You know what never get's old? Revenge."

"No."

"What's the matter, Klaus? Missing something?"

"What are you doing?"

"Just enjoying my freedom."

"I will kill you and everyone you've ever met!"

"You do that and you will never see your family again. I wonder Klaus, as someone who has been one step ahead for a thousand years, are you prepared for this?"

Later at the Boarding House, I was sitting on the couch, drinking. Elena had gone back upstairs and before I knew it she was back in the room.

"Why don't you come to bed?" she asked. I continued to look in the fire, not even noticing that she'd changed into a silk robe.

"I will."

"Damon, come to bed." I then looked up and saw her change in attire. I tilted my head as I took in her appearance, a cute little seductive smirk plastered on her face.

"What are you…" Elena then walked back up the stairs and I followed her.

"Let me make you feel better," she replied when I closed the door to my bedroom.

"Elena, you don't have to."

"I want to." She kissed me and moaned, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I'm not your brother's girl anymore, Damon. And I'm ready. It's right now." I didn't have to be asked twice as I backed her up against the wall kissing her. I thrust my tongue into her mouth and she moaned desperately, rubbing against me.

"Tell me to stop," I groaned as kissed her neck.

"I don't want to."

"If this happens, I'll never let you go." Elena negated my command by kissing me hard.

"Then don't let go. I want you. All of you." In a few seconds, the tie to her robe had been loosened and my clothes hit the floor. I nipped, sucked, and licked at every inch of skin I could find, eliciting a series of delightful moans and whimpers from Elena. I wanted to tease her, to key her up so bad she begged me to take her, but I was so wound up I didn't think my body could take it and I could smell her arousal. She was dripping wet.

"If I do something you don't want, tell me and I'll stop," I growled. I'd be damned if I'd become Stefan and Elena fully understood the meaning behind my words. I shuffled us over to the bed and pinned her beneath me. "You have no idea how long I've wanted you like this."

"Since when?"

"Since we first danced." I wrapped her legs around my waist and thrust into her.

"Hmm. Damon." She grasped at the sheets and arched her back as I licked at the valley between her breasts. And what followed was a night of pleasure in which Stefan, Klaus…everything disappeared, but our love for each other.


	5. Dark Horses

Today was the best day of my life. Now you may not believe that considering the fact that my vampire life has been filled with nothing but disappointment and betrayal and my own brother stabbed me in the back less than twenty-four hours ago, but right now in this moment my life was perfect. Because I got the girl. Technically, we'd been together for two weeks, but last night was the night when I finally realized Elena Gilbert was mine. I turned on the red fitted Egyptian cotton sheets of my bed to see my girl lying on her back, the sheets bunched around her waist, her breasts gloriously bare. I moved closer to Elena so I was spooning her and ran my left hand across her bare leg, clothed waist, and naked arm. I stroked her cheek.

"Damon," she breathed before her eyes fluttered open. "Hmm. Morning." I bent down to kiss her.

"Good morning. How do you feel?"

"Wonderful. That was the best night of my life."

"I was hoping you'd say something like that." She wrapped her arms around my neck and I slid her underneath me. She bucked against me and I knew she wanted me again. I growled as I kissed her neck. My lips moved down her collarbone and enveloped one of her breasts. She let out a throaty moan as my tongue circled the flesh and my hands stroked the insides of her thighs so they fell open to my touch. "You're going to spoil me, you know?"

"You deserve to be spoiled."

I kissed down her body and felt the muscles in her stomach and legs tighten in anticipation. Her hands, which had been caressing the strands of my hair, slipped down onto the sheets as I nipped at her hipbone.

"Damon," she gasped when I unfurled her nether lips and licked a trail up to her clit.

Her little moans egged me on more. I caged her hips down, leaving her at my mercy, as I licked and groaned at her addictive taste. I placed her legs against my shoulders and voraciously fed upon her essence and within in seconds she was quivering in my grip, her back arching off the mattress as desire ripped through her being. I lifted her legs off my shoulders and kissed her femoral artery, moaning at the sweet pulse of her blood, but I wouldn't bite her…yet. I kissed her, letting her taste herself on me and that seemed to turn up her libido as she flipped us over and kissed my chest.

"You had your fun. It's my turn now," she smirked. I was turning out to be a terrible influence on her, but at the moment I couldn't bring myself to care.

"Elena," I groaned as her mouth licked my length from the tip all the way to the base.

My hands shot into her hair as she gripped my cock and sunk her wet mouth around me. My hips involuntarily bucked against her, forcing her to take in more of me and if I hadn't known better I would have thought she was a pro. She licked my flesh while simultaneously sucking and pumping me. She was going to make me come completely undone if I didn't do something. With a growl, I dragged her back up to me and kissed her hard. At vampire speed, I moved her onto her back and rubbed against her. No more games. I had to have her. Now. I could feel her heat, moisture dripping down onto my sheets. I'd never wash them again.

With one sharp thrust, I was inside her and her back arched as a throaty moan left her throat. As I sucked and caressed her breasts, I moved inside her, holding her hips as I pulled in and out. She grabbed at my shoulders and I lifted her up so she was on my lap. Her little fists gripped at my hair as she rode me, my hips pistoning up into her. She met me thrust for thrust as my thumb rubbed her clit. With a harsh cry, her nails ripped through my shoulders and she was consumed by the waves of her orgasm. As she crumpled against me, her face hidden in my neck, I pumped three more times into her before freeing my seed, calling out her name in glorious release. We fell against the bed and we languished in our affection for each other with a drugging kiss. Several minutes passed and Elena rose from the bed.

"Where are you going?" I asked, still feeling the numbness of my orgasm.

"To take a shower. Care to join me?" she replied with a devilish smile before walking into the bathroom.

"Oh, woman, you're going to be the second death of me." And with a burst of vampire speed I was on her again.

Several hours later, Elena had left to have lunch with Bonnie and I was at the Mystic Grill as well, but with Alaric. This morning had been great, but now I had to face the reality that we were all in danger and that my own brother had sold me out. How did I combat this new certainty? My usual coping mechanism, profuse amounts of alcohol.

"Okay. I give you a choice. Bloody Marry or Screw Driver, brunch in a bottle. Come on, Ric. I can't drink all this by myself. I mean, I can but then somebody's getting naked." Alaric shook his head. "Oh man, I can't believe you're making me drink alone."

"I'm busy."

"It's the eve of Klaus-aggedon. You're doing homework?"

"This may come as a shock but I am not here to hang out with you. I'm here to see Jeremy who is an hour late for his shift."

"Kids today. Where are their values?" I asked as I downed a shot.

"This is his mid-term paper. Copied it straight off the Internet. Didn't even try to hide it."

"Somebody's getting grounded."

"Did you say you're waiting for Jeremy, as in Jeremy Gilbert?" asked the female bartender.

"Yeah," Alaric answered.

"He was fired last week."

"Oops," I murmured.

After telling Elena the news, my girlfriend was immediately on her phone, leaving a message for her brother while I played darts.

"Jeremy, the minute that you get this, call me! Unbelievable!"

"You are feisty when you're mad," I smirked. "It's hot."

"It's not that I'm mad. I'm just…I'm worried."

"Why? Because he lost his job at the Grill? I think he'll survive, Elena."

"He's spiraling. Ever since Bonnie broke up with him, he's moody, he's not really talking to anyone."

"It's typical teenager."

"Who's seeing ghosts and has lost everyone that he cares about."

"Not everyone. He still has you."

"Are you okay?"

"What makes you think I'm not okay?"

"Well, you're daydrunk."

"It has nothing to do with you if that's what you're worried about. I'm just learning to accept the fact that over a hundred years of brotherhood means nothing to Stefan."

"Well, this isn't exactly your most attractive look."

"Hmm. And what is my most attractive look?" I asked as I pulled Elena into my arms.

"Naked. In bed."

"Hmm. Well, maybe I can make some improvements." Elena giggled and kissed me.

"Don't mind me," said a familiar English voice. Elena broke the kiss and turned around to see Klaus.

"Klaus," Elena whispered as I immediately moved in front of her.

"Really? You're gonna do this in the Grill? In front of everyone? It's a little beneath you, don't you think?" I asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink with a mate. Get a round in would you, Tony?"

"I'm surprised you stuck around town long enough for happy hour."

"My sister seems to be missing. Need to sort that out."

"Cute blonde bombshell, psycho. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Truth is I've grown to rather like your little town. Think I might fancy a home here. Oh, I imagine you're wondering how does this affect you. The answer is: not in the slightest. If I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves, you can go on living your little lives however you choose. You have my word."

"What more could you possibly want?" Elena asked.

"Well for starters, you can tell me where I might find Stefan."

"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass," I growled.

"Well you see that is a shame. Your brother stole from me. I need him found so I can take back what's mine."

"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem," Elena spat. Smirking, Klaus moved toward Elena, but I stepped in between them.

"Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart."

Later in the day, I was at my house while Alaric and Elena were staging an intervention for Jeremy. I poured myself a drink. I sensed a presence and turned around to see Klaus in my doorway.

"I think it's about time we had a drink, don't you?" he asked.

"I'd say we're overdue."

"Well, you've been so busy with all your plotting and scheming."

"You know me. Never miss a chance to plan an epic failure."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Who could have guessed your own brother would betray you?"

"Well, I did have a front row seat when your sister lied to you."

"Yeah, well, she's fickle that one. And you say you have no idea of her whereabouts?"

"That's the thing with younger siblings. You just never know what they're going to do. Drink?" He poured Klaus a drink.

"Cheers, mate."

"Down the hatch."

"You know, we've actually got a lot in common you and I."

"Really? Well, yeah. Maybe we can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother. Why are you so mad at him? He stole something?"

"My family, the Originals. I had them daggered, boxed-up awaiting the day when I saw fit to wake them. And he went in and pinched the bloody lot."

"Of course he did. Such a buzz kill, my baby bro. Well, I'd love to find him. Just the trouble is I sure as hell don't work for you."

"You know your drink stinks of vervain so I can't compel you. There be no point in killing you because you're actually the one who can help me get what I need. And yet it would seem a demonstration is in order. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find Stefan. Well, it seems you people respond best to displays of violence. Why don't you take this as an example of my reach?" He took out his phone and called someone. "There he is. So that thing I told you to do. Why don't you go ahead and get on with it?"

Several minutes passed and my phone rang. I answered and heard a frantic Elena on the other line. I glared at Klaus as I caught all the dirty details. Klaus had compelled Jeremy to step out into the road as one of his hybrids tried to run him over. Luckily, Alaric had his ring on and pushed Jeremy out of the way. I sped toward the Gilbert House and walked in to see Alaric on the sofa.

"How is he?" I asked.

"He's dead, but he had his ring. Klaus' hybrid hit him. Now we just wait," Elena replied.

"Jeremy, why aren't you wearing vervain? Where is your bracelet?"

"I don't know," the boy replied.

"It was Tyler!" Elena spat. "It had to have been. That's why he was hanging out with you. To get you off the vervain."

"Klaus is trying to send us a message. He wants us to find Stefan who stole his coffins full of his dead family members," I replied.

"Coffins?"

"Yup. So all we have to do is find four coffins and voila no one else on your Christmas list needs to die."

"Wait, that's your big plan?" Jeremy asked. "To steal back four dead Originals so this evil hybrid doesn't kill me and everyone else we know?"

"You got a better idea?"

"Yeah! Let's get the hell outta here! Pack our bags and go!"

"Jeremy, calm down," Elena replied.

"No! I'm not gonna calm down, Elena! This happens every time, no matter what we do. Get on my case about school and work. Who cares? None of us are gonna make it out of this town alive." He left and Elena sighed.

"He said he wants his family back," she said to me after a beat. I caught her drift and frowned.

"No! No! I know what you're thinking and the answer is no!"

"If we give him Rebekah…"

"Yeah, then Klaus undaggers her and the first thing she does is kill you! Frying pan, fire. Not an option!" Elena then recalled something from when she spoke with Bonnie at the Grill.

"Klaus' coffins. How many did you say there were?"

"Four. Why?"

"That son of a bitch," Elena cursed, taking me aback. I'd never heard Elena curse. She immediately pulled out her phone and called Bonnie. "Klaus is looking for four coffins, just like in your dream. I'm guessing it's not just stress."

"Elena, don't get involved. Whatever Klaus wants, stay as far away from it as you can."

"Klaus won't let me. Bonnie, he tried to kill Jeremy."

"What do you want me to do?"

"We need to find Stefan. Look, I know that you don't think that your locator spell still works, but we have to at least try."

"You don't need a locator spell. I know where Stefan is."

About a half-hour later, Elena and I arrived at the abandoned witch house.

"I thought Bonnie said this place lost all its mojo," I said.

"The dead witches were angry at her for bringing Jeremy back to life when he got shot by the Sheriff. I guess now they have something they want her to know."

"This is why I hate witches. So fickle, passive aggressive," I mumbled as we entered the house.

"Stefan?" Elena called out.

"Come on, Stef!" I said. Suddenly, my skin began to burn and I rushed into a shadowy corner. "Really! Still!"

"What?"

"Witchy spirits aren't a big fan. And they use their juju to screw with my daylight ring!"

"Wait outside."

"Elena!"

"I'm not leaving until I know if he's here," said Elena, walking further into the house as I left. I used my enhanced hearing to listen in to Elena and Stefan's conversation. "Stefan?"

"Go away. You shouldn't be here,," said Stefan.

"Stefan, I need your help. Bonnie said that you would be here."

"Well, Bonnie sucks at keeping secrets."

"Listen, you need to give Klaus his family back."

"Oh, really? Is that what I need to do?"

"Klaus compelled Jeremy to stand in front of a speeding car. Don't you get it? Stefan, he's not gonna stop until he gets what he wants."

"Elena, stop talking. I'm not giving Klaus anything."

"Are you listening to me? He's gonna kill Jeremy!"

"Not really my problem." Suddenly, Elena slapped Stefan.

"I hope you rot in hell for what you did to me, you bastard," Elena spat before leaving the house.

"That didn't go over well," I said when she exited the house, teary-eyed.

"Don't even start, Damon!"

"Let me talk to him!"

"You can't get in! The witches won't let you!" I drew her into my grip and hugged her. I felt a few of her tears on my jacket.

"Shh. It's okay. I'm so sorry you had to do that, face him alone." I pulled back from her. She smiled at me as I wiped her eyes. "Here. Take my car keys. You go deal with Jeremy. I'll deal with my brother." At vampire speed, I rushed into the house, running in shadowy spots until I reached the basement where Stefan was sitting in a chair.

"Wow! That was impressive. But the coffins aren't here, so...you can go away now."

"I don't care about the coffins. We need to talk," I said as I recovered from my burns.

"Okay. Let's talk."

"Nothing's ever easy with you, is it?" I attacked Stefan and threw him out of the house. I kicked him in the stomach, grabbed a tree branch, and staked him in the stomach. Stefan screamed in pain. "That is for screwing up my plan and hurting her! You stop me from killing Klaus and you steal his family! Why! Doesn't make sense! Answer me!"

"Oh, that was my idea," said Emma, arriving on the scene.

"You little traitor," I growled. Emma shrugged.

"Piece by piece Klaus took everything from me. I'm doing the same to him," Stefan groaned.

"But I had him, Stefan! Why did you screw it up?"

"I did it to save you," said Stefan as he threw me off of him.

"What! No. No way! You didn't do this for me."

"He was one step ahead of us. If Klaus died, his hybrids would have killed you."

"How many times do I have to get it through your head? Stop saving me!" I said as I staked him in the stomach again. Emma approached Stefan and pulled out the wood.

"Alright, that's enough you two," Emma chastised. "I swear. You're worse than children."

"And you are the perpetual pain in my ass!" I yelled at her. "I told you to fix him! Not to join his side!" Emma then approached Stefan, wrapping her arms around him.

"You are incredibly gullible, Damon, to believe I'd come all this way to turn Stefan's humanity back on and receive nothing in return. I made a deal with Stefan that I'd help him kill Klaus and we'd run off into the sunset together. And he agreed as he gave up Elena long ago. He wants nothing more to do with your whiny doppelganger. I got what I wanted, Damon, and by my keen sense of smell so did you. So quit it with the bitchy attitude."

One thing became clear in that moment. Elena was right. Emma wasn't going to save Stefan from himself. It was going to have to be me. And I could tell by the look in Stefan's eyes and how Stefan held Emma that she was right. He had given Elena up. Emma and Stefan were…together, like they used to be. Which was a double-edged sword in my case. On one hand, I didn't have to worry about Stefan trying to steal her back, but on the other, if Elena or myself ever angered Emma, Stefan could turn on us to please her. After several minutes, I spoke again, "Do you know what I can't figure out? Why save me? Is it brotherly love, guilty conscience? Is the switch on? Is the switch off?"

"Don't you have somewhere you need to be, Damon?" Emma asked, inspecting her nails.

"Deflection. That's not gonna work on me. I invented that."

"We're done. Can't you just go away? Emma and I have better things to do," Stefan replied as he stroked her cheek. I rolled my eyes.

"Not until you tell me why you saved me. You owe me that."

"I don't owe you anything."

"Fine. Next question. Why did you steal the coffins?"

"Because Klaus' family is one weakness we can use against him," Emma smirked.

"Use against him to do what? You're not gonna kill him. You know how I know? Because there was only one way to kill him and you two blew that to save me."

"You're wrong, Damon. Klaus doesn't just get to live forever. There's another way. There has to be."

"Fair enough. But whatever you're doing I want in on it."

"I don't need your help."

"Really? Last time I checked you're hiding out in a haunted house."

"Emma and I are in this alone, Damon."

"If you go after Klaus you have to be cutthroat and devious. I'm so much better at that than you." Emma looked at Stefan.

"He has a good point," she said.

"Come on, brother. What do you say? If you're gonna keep saving my life at least make it for a good reason."

"You want in?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. But it's just me, you, and Emma. Elena stays out of it."

"Deal!"

"Follow us."

"Wait. I'm not so...welcome in there."

"Don't you worry, Damon. We all want the same thing," Emma said as they entered the witch house and walked into the basement. "Have a look."

"What? Klaus is allergic to dust?"

"Look harder." Suddenly, four coffins appeared. "The witch spirits hate Klaus as much as we do. They're using their powers to hide the coffins."

"So even if he comes in the house…"

"He won't be able to find them," Stefan finished. A few moments later, I received a phone call from Elena and sighed at the news. A hybrid had attacked and subsequently been beheaded by Jeremy. Alaric also wasn't in such great shape. After disposing of the evidence and taking care of my friend, I returned to Elena's house where I saw her wringing out a bloody towel.

"Did you get rid of him?" she asked from the kitchen, sensing me enter the house.

"Yeah. Tony the headless hybrid is down at the bottom of Steven's Quarry."

"What about Alaric?"

"Took care of him, too. He'll be fine. How are you?"

"I think I got most of the blood off the porch," she said, her voice cracking.

"Elena. Look at me." She finally turned to face me. "It's gonna be okay."

"I have to tell you something. I made a deal with Klaus. I gave him Rebekah."

"What? No. No, no, no. You did not do that. She's gonna come here and try and kill you!"

"No, she won't. Klaus won't let her because he needs me."

"And suddenly you trust him!"

"No, I don't trust him. But what other choice do I have? I don't trust Stefan. Do you think he's just gonna give up the coffins?"

"My brother is sort of running his own show right now. No doubt Emma put the thought in his mind."

"Yeah. And my brother just chopped off someone's head! It's not right. It's not fair. He's sixteen years old. He shouldn't have to live like this," she said, turning back to the sink to wash her bloody hands. Knowing she was on the verge of a total meltdown, I hugged her from behind for a few moments. She turned off the water and I pulled her to face me. "There has to be another way. We have to fix it."

"We will! Elena, we will. Okay? Come on. No tears." She wiped her tears away and hugged me. I kissed the crown of head. "I love you."

"I love you too." A few minutes later, Alaric and Elena went up to Jeremy's room. "Hey. Can we talk?"

"What did I do now?"

"I've been thinking about what you said earlier. About how we should pack up and go..."

"Elena, I didn't mean any of that."

"But you were right. You shouldn't have to give up a normal life just because of me."

"What's going on?" I then entered the room.

"Your sister thinks we should have another one of our talks." I sat down on the bed next to the kid and compelled him. "Here's the thing, Jer. You're gonna go out of town for a while, a long while. You're gonna stay with some nice family friends in Denver. You're gonna be at a new school. You'll meet new girls, living girls. You're going to drink a few beers, take an art class. You do whatever you want."

"Tell him he's gonna leave Mystic Falls behind and never think twice about it," Alaric spoke up. I looked at Elena and she nodded.

"You're gonna leave Mystic Falls behind and never think twice about it. You're gonna have a better life, Jeremy." When I found Elena, she was crying on the front porch swing.

"I feel like a horrible person," she mumbled.

"You just saved his life, Elena. Take it from me, estranged is bad, dead is worse."

"I just can't stop thinking about what happened the last time you compelled him."

"He found out. And he got over it. Again, not dead, Elena! He's so lucky to have you for a sister."

"Thank you."

"No problem." I sat on the swing and held her in my arms, her fingers interlacing with mine.

"Not just for this, Damon. For everything. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here. You're my rock. I never thought I'd be able to get through the trauma of what he did to me, but I did and I want you to know that that's because of you. I love you so much." I stroked her cheek and kissed her. Guilt began to nag at me. I'd promised Stefan not to involve Elena, but not involving her didn't mean I had to lie to her I realized.

"There's something I should tell you. Stefan didn't screw us over. He screwed us over but he had a good reason."

"What?"

"He saved Klaus to save me. Then he stole the coffins to get even."

"What? Damon, if he did it to protect you then…why would he even do that? What does it even mean?"

"I don't know," I said before kissing the top of Elena's head.


	6. Kill Your Heroes

When I walked out of the shower, a towel wrapped around my waist, Stefan walked into my room.

"Good morning," I said.

"You're late. We're supposed to meet Bonnie and Emma at the witch house in ten minutes."

"Relax, brother. You don't want your hair to fall out."

"Would you hurry up? We have work to do. You know Klaus isn't gonna spontaneously self-destruct. Why are you all chipper?" Little brother didn't need to know that I'd had some fantastic sex with Elena when I saw her this morning.

"No reason. Be with you in a minute."

A few minutes later, Stefan, Emma, and I were walking up to the old witch house.

"You didn't say anything to Elena about the coffins, right?" Stefan asked.

"No, I said I wouldn't."

"I know what you said."

"Then why are you asking?"

"Because protecting the location of Klaus' family is my number one priority right now. And the fewer people who know, the better." Suddenly, Emma stopped walking. "What?" Her eyes narrowed and we sped toward the house. As Bonnie walked slowly to the staircase of the witch house, she saw me. I motioned for her to be quiet. Outside, a hybrid walked out through the back door, running into Stefan. Before the hybrid could vamp out, however, Emma ripped his heart out.

"These hybrids. They're really bringing the neighborhood down," she joked as she threw the hybrid's heart on the ground, her hand drenched in blood. A few minutes later, I was in the basement, hitting the coffin with a shovel.

"You're wasting your time. It won't open. Did you bury the body?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah. Any sign of our little hybrid buddies?"

"Nope, just the dead one."

"Alright, Klaus has six siblings. Rebekah is now with Klaus. There was one dead kid in the old world, one dead kid in the new world, which leaves Elijah and two others. Three sleeping originals, four coffins. So who is in the lock box?"

"No idea. But whatever is in here, Bonnie seems to think it will help us kill Klaus. So the sooner she can get this open, the sooner we will know if she's right."

"You would think the spirits of a bunch of dead witches that can make the coffins invisible would have figured out how to open one. Fine, don't help."

"You know none of this is gonna do us any good if Klaus' hybrid friends find our hiding place, right? They need to go away," said Emma.

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea, Emma. Why don't you just ask them to pack a bag and take a long vacation while we're at it. How about trying to keep the peace? Don't draw attention to the things we're trying to hide."

"Damon, I'm not playing defense when I have what Klaus wants. He does what we say or I dump his family to the bottom of the ocean."

"And he kills you and everyone you know like, I don't know...me!"

"No, he is bluffing. His family means more to him than anything else," Stefan replied.

"You sure about that?"

"Well, I don't know, Damon. I mean, I guess there's only one way to find out, right? Call his bluff."

"Whoa. The only way to call someone's bluff, Stefan, is to be willing to lose everything if you're wrong." Stefan and Emma then smirked and left. "Crap."

That night, Damon and Alaric arrived at Founder's Hall for a Council meeting.

"I thought Stefan saved your life," Alaric said.

"He did."

"And now he's willing to risk it just to see how far he can push Klaus?"

"It seems so."

"So is his humanity on or off?"

"I think there's another option in play. A dimmer switch, which is a huge problem."

"Why?"

"Because I can't predict how far he is willing to go until someone gets killed."

"So suddenly you care who lives or dies?"

"I have a small list," I smiled.

"Talk about a humanity dimmer switch."

"Screw you."

"Can't a council meeting ever just be a council meeting?" I shook my head. After a half-hour of attending the dull as dishwater founder's party, I joined Alaric who was looking at a model of the Wickery Bridge restoration project.

"That's the bridge where Elena and Jeremy's parents died in the car accident," I said. "I'm gonna get a drink, write a check, and then we're out." Alaric nodded and I left. As I gathered my drink, a conversation between the mayor and a certain hybrid piqued my attention.

"Well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in," I said, walking over to Carol and Klaus. "Nice vest."

"Thank you very much. Good to see you, Damon. Carol and I were discussing about whether you would be the other big benefactor."

"What do you say, Damon? Klaus has made a very generous pledge. You know how we're chomping at the bit to begin the renovation."

"Carol, don't take this the wrong way, but do you realize that you've been kissing the ass of an immortal hybrid who ruined your son's life?"

"Oh, come now. Some would say that I saved him from all that nasty full moon business. I've gone through it myself, only twice, but still, I'm very sympathetic."

"Klaus has promised to protect Tyler, Damon. And our town."

"From who? His hybrids are the one the town needs protection from."

"Well, I'd have no use for them if your brother would kindly return my family."

"Not gonna happen."

"That's what I thought, which is why I've come to an agreement with the mayor. You and the council stay out of my hair, I stay out of yours. Your town gets protected, my hybrids get left alone and everybody will be happy. All you have to do is to get Stefan to stop decapitating my friends."

"Please, Damon, just get your brother under control or the council will be forced to take action against him."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Oh come on, mate. Give peace a chance." Several minutes later, I found the sheriff.

"The mayor is looking out for Tyler," she said. "For now we have to assume Klaus has her in his pocket."

"Please don't tell me you're gonna drink the Klaus Kool-Aid."

"I'm not gonna let him hold this town hostage but I'm also not gonna let innocent people get caught in the cross-fire in a pissing contest between a hybrid and a vampire."

"Liz, I'm impressed. You're all strong and sheriff-y."

"I'm not kidding, Damon. Get Stefan to stand down from this one before someone gets hurt." I walked back in the party and sensed that Stefan was here. I found him about to kill a hybrid upstairs. I pushed my brother against a wall.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked.

"What are _you_ doing? No dead hybrids at the Founder's Party!" I heatedly whispered.

"I told Klaus to get his hybrids out of town. He didn't listen so I'm saying it louder."

"You don't think there's ten more where that came from? And if you kill them, Klaus won't make twenty more? Have you forgotten about Elena's part in all of this? Or do you not care if she is a human blood bag for the rest of her life?"

"Protecting Elena is your problem now. See, I'm not compelled by Klaus to do that anymore."

"Don't give me that no-humanity crap. You can't just flip your switch. Your switch is fried, Stefan, just like your brain. You want to take on Klaus? You want to be the villain? You got to be smarter."

"To be the villain, Damon, you have to be the better villain." Stefan clapped my shoulder and left. A few minutes later, I was walking down the stairs when I called Elena. I was surprised to hear Stefan on the other line. "Hello, Damon. She's a little busy right now."

"Why the hell do you have Elena's phone?"

"I'm making my next move. Let me ask you something. What will Klaus do if he can't make anymore hybrids?"

"What?" I heard Elena yell.

"Stefan, leave her out of this. If you touch one hair on her head." Stefan ended the call. "Damnit." I immediately sought out Klaus and pulled him into an empty room.

"What now? You just pulled me away from a fascinating conversation about landscaping the Town Square."

"Stefan just grabbed Elena."

"Well, he's getting desperate."

"He's gonna try and use her against you. Do what he says. Get rid of your hybrids."

"Or what? Stefan would never dream of killing her."

"You sure about that? He just tried to behead someone in the middle of a council party. He's operating on crazy right now."

"Well, crazy or not, that kind of love never dies. He's bluffing."

"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't but if you don't want to believe him, believe me. I know my brother better than anyone and right now I don't have a clue how far he is willing to take this. So if he says blink, I suggest you blink." I headed toward the door, but Emma opened the door and stood in front of me, her arms crossed. "Get out of my way." She pushed him into a chair.

"I don't think so," she replied. "I'm here to make sure you don't screw anything up. He has a point, Klaus. You really should do as we say." Klaus growled and his phone rang.

"Stefan, how nice to hear your voice."

"Tell your hybrids to get out of town, Klaus."

"Well, that's not gonna happen until I get my coffins back."

"Okay, well then I'm gonna drive your blood source off Wickery Bridge." My eyes widened in alarm. That bastard.

"I don't believe you, Stefan. You won't kill her." Seconds passed. "What's going on?"

"I just fed her my blood. No more hybrids if she's a vampire."

"You won't do it."

"Really? Try me. Because your coffins are next to go. Say goodbye to your family, Klaus."

"Fine. I'll send them away. You win." Stefan ended the call. Emma smirked and left the room. "I suggest you find her, Damon." I left at inhuman speed and found Elena curled up on the side of the road, crying.

"Elena."

"Damon," she whimpered. I pulled her into my arms and took her to the Boarding House. She laid motionless on my bed and I hugged her from behind, pushing stray strands of her hair aside and brushing her tears away. "I had finally pulled myself together and he did it again. He broke me. Everything hurts. Make it go away."

"Elena, you're not fragile. You're not broken. You'll survive, like you always do. As much as I loathe to admit it, Stefan won this round for us today. He pushed Klaus to the edge and he blinked."

"Well, his methods sucked."

"Yeah. They did, but we needed this. Klaus has been calling all the shots and Stefan beat him at his own game. He was the better villain."

"Don't sound so impressed."

"Well, I can't help but be a little proud. What do you need?"

"Just don't leave me. I don't want to be alone."

"I would never leave you alone and I would never hurt you…at least willingly."

"I love you, Damon. I wanted you to save me."

"Shh. Just sleep, my love. Just sleep." I kissed her temple and felt her fade into unconsciousness. I stayed awake the whole night, pondering the methods in which I'd torture my brother for hurting my girl. The following morning, I received a text. I nudged Elena awake.

"Damon?"

"I've got to meet Liz for a few minutes. Stay here. I'll be back soon." Elena nodded and fell back asleep. I stroked her cheek before leaving and I met Liz in the woods at a crime scene.

"A hiker called it in. My guys got here first."

"Another hybrid?" I asked.

"That's what I thought at first. Brian Walters, the medical examiner."

"What's with the stake? He's not a vampire."

"I know. This was a murder."


End file.
